Pom Pom crab

Michelle Crossley · Jan 25, 2019

Hi there
I ordered a Pom Pom crab on line .
He arrived today ,the only problem is I need a magnifying glass to see him.
He is the size of a baby fingernail from tip to toe.
The thing is I have a 6 foot tank and now he is in there I can't see him at all.
Does anyone know if he will grow and get big enough to see with the naked eye.
Obviously can't give you a picture in the tank as I have no idea where he is.

gonzo620 · Jan 25, 2019

Yes if he survives. But in a 6 foot tank I’m guessing you have some large fish that may find him to be a nice snack.

Michelle Crossley · Jan 25, 2019

gonzo620 said:
Yes if he survives. But in a 6 foot tank I’m guessing you have some large fish that may find him to be a nice snack.

I was really hoping it would be able to defend itself with its little anenome Pom poms

Captain Quint · Jan 25, 2019

Michelle Crossley said:
Hi there
I ordered a Pom Pom crab on line .
He arrived today ,the only problem is I need a magnifying glass to see him.
He is the size of a baby fingernail from tip to toe.
The thing is I have a 6 foot tank and now he is in there I can't see him at all.
Does anyone know if he will grow and get big enough to see with the naked eye.
Obviously can't give you a picture in the tank as I have no idea where he is.

Max size is usually around an inch but generally sent much smaller. They eventually lose the anemones and if lucky they retain one of the two for defense (but not very defensive really) and food collection.

I've only kept them in small nano types.

Hope you find the little critter. Do you have a fuge if you could locate it?

dutch27 · Jan 25, 2019

Even in a small tank when I had one I rarely saw it. I felt like I may as well have just stuffed a $20 bill under a rock.

Bob Loblaw · Jan 25, 2019

norfolkgarden · Jan 25, 2019

So ours once, a month after it was in the tank.
If it is still alive and well it has been in there about 6 months.

They are really cool and I like thinking that it might still be in there. [emoji849]

saltyhog · Jan 25, 2019

Mine is in a 10 gallon pico and I only see him about every other day. He has retained his anemones through 2 molts. Not sure how they pull that off.

Tallison · Jan 25, 2019

Michelle Crossley said:
Hi there
I ordered a Pom Pom crab on line .
He arrived today ,the only problem is I need a magnifying glass to see him.
He is the size of a baby fingernail from tip to toe.
The thing is I have a 6 foot tank and now he is in there I can't see him at all.
Does anyone know if he will grow and get big enough to see with the naked eye.
Obviously can't give you a picture in the tank as I have no idea where he is.

3 months ago before I moved I purchased one and never saw it again. I had to move my tank a month ago and I found him in the rocks, he had ditched one hand for a piece of my hammer coral so just knowing he’s in there is pretty cool

Michelle Crossley · Jan 26, 2019

Captain Quint said:
Max size is usually around an inch but generally sent much smaller. They eventually lose the anemones and if lucky they retain one of the two for defense (but not very defensive really) and food collection.

I've only kept them in small nano types.

Hope you find the little critter. Do you have a fuge if you could locate it?

I do have a fuge but it is a big if ,if I do locate it.
Quite disappointed really.
Should have read up on them more.

Michelle Crossley · Jan 26, 2019

norfolkgarden said:
So ours once, a month after it was in the tank.
If it is still alive and well it has been in there about 6 months.

They are really cool and I like thinking that it might still be in there. [emoji849]

I'm hoping I will see mine in a few months beating everything off with its big mr Pom poms

Michelle Crossley · Jan 26, 2019

Tallison said:
3 months ago before I moved I purchased one and never saw it again. I had to move my tank a month ago and I found him in the rocks, he had ditched one hand for a piece of my hammer coral so just knowing he’s in there is pretty cool

That is a nice ending.
Will keep my fingers crossed for mine

Wilz · Jan 27, 2019

I have a pom pom crab - I got it about 3.5 years ago for a 25 gallon nano, it got transferred to my current Reefer 350 (4 foot 90 gallon). I hardly ever see it during the day, having said that I did see it a few days ago inside a "cave" during morning feeding time. But it comes out in the open most nights when lights changed to moonlight, slowly moving about waving its poms poms and it is always a delight to see it still in the tank.

I have a few wrasses - leopard , peacock, flashers and fairies, in particular the fairies (Labbock & Labouti) are pretty big and chases each other every now and then, but the little pom pom seems to manage to find its niche.

Gareth elliott · Jan 27, 2019

I added 4 awhile back ago. 2 somehow made it down to my sump and live down there in the fuge. The other 2 come out mainly at night. I added them over the summer to add something to watch when the lights go out. Tank is a 40b. Theres 2 clowns, a lubbocki fairy, and a coral beauty. I have a radiant wrasse in qt for my final fish, will let you know in a month how they fair with him in the tank.

timrocks311 · Jan 28, 2019

They are hard to find. We've had one in our 40 for about 2 months and we would see him every few days. We call him Waldo because it's fun to try and spot him. He lost his pom poms.

I added a second one a week ago and since then I haven't seen either one.

Michelle Crossley · Jan 29, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
I added 4 awhile back ago. 2 somehow made it down to my sump and live down there in the fuge. The other 2 come out mainly at night. I added them over the summer to add something to watch when the lights go out. Tank is a 40b. Theres 2 clowns, a lubbocki fairy, and a coral beauty. I have a radiant wrasse in qt for my final fish, will let you know in a month how they fair with him in the tank.

Look forward to hearing from you

Michelle Crossley · Jan 29, 2019

timrocks311 said:
They are hard to find. We've had one in our 40 for about 2 months and we would see him every few days. We call him Waldo because it's fun to try and spot him. He lost his pom poms. I added a second one a week ago and since then I haven't seen either one.

Aw bless it. I have heard that they do pick something else up when that happens.someone posted one with a anenome on one side and a bristle worm on the other.
How bizarre is that

Katrina71 · Jan 29, 2019

I have been trying to get one of these guys! I'd love to see more pics!

Gareth elliott · Jan 29, 2019

Katrina71 said:
I have been trying to get one of these guys! I'd love to see more pics!

Will snap some pics of the sump dwellers when i get home, easiest to find. Also anyone afraid regular bristle worms eat livestock, with the crabs are numerous 1 inch worms and one thats like 5 times the size of crabs, and they are still there

Octane13 · Jan 29, 2019

Michelle Crossley said:
Hi there
I ordered a Pom Pom crab on line .
He arrived today ,the only problem is I need a magnifying glass to see him.
He is the size of a baby fingernail from tip to toe.
The thing is I have a 6 foot tank and now he is in there I can't see him at all.
Does anyone know if he will grow and get big enough to see with the naked eye.
Obviously can't give you a picture in the tank as I have no idea where he is.

I bet you will rarely see it if at all. I had one in my 40g for over a year and saw it maybe once a week if I was lucky only when feeding in the evening and always in a different spot. For a while I thought my wrasse ate it when I didn't see it for over a month, NOPE it was fine. It finally lost its nems and died. I have no idea how old it was but its body was about the size of a finger (~1/2") and outstretched maybe triple that. Can't find my pictures but I would get another one/two in a heartbeat for each tank it was always exciting to see. I found mine at petco randomly like $9.